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Video of the Day

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Hello, today I am thrilled to shine the spotlight on Rie McGaha, who has a new book coming out called Closure. Enjoy!

People & Places by Rie McGaha

When asked where my inspiration for a story comes from, I used to reply, "The voices in my head tell me what to write." And that is still true to an extent today. The storyline, plot and general characterization comes from some place in my head. The fine-tuning, however, comes from people, places, and events both past and present. Sometimes my characters are purely imagination and sometimes they are a combination of people I know.

In Blood Line and the sequel, Ancient Blood, the hero and heroine Joshua and Jessie Kaine are a version of my husband and myself. The way they relate to one another, their love for one another are purely my husband and me. The reason I used the two of us in this book is because the story came from a dream my husband had. In real life he is a truck driver, I used to be a truck driver and we did drive together. As far as the becoming werewolves part—my husband is still waiting for that bite!

In the anthology Cocked & Fully Loaded, my story Outlaw is based on a real life incident that I took and wrapped in fiction. The outlaw in the story is a real person I know and someone I loved very much when I was younger. His name is Stephen, but I'll leave it at that!

Sometimes stories come from being in a place I love, like Biloxi, Mississippi. My upcoming book One Good Man is a bbw set in Biloxi. I have always had a great love for the ocean but especially the Gulf Coast. From Destin, Florida to New Orleans, there's no better place on earth. But I have a special place in my heart for Biloxi because I lived there way back in the late '70's. That was before the floating gambling boats came and before the tourists. Biloxi was a laid back little town where you could walk along the beach at sunset, or fish off the pier, or eat at the White Cap restaurant. Change is inevitable but I prefer to remember the town as it was all those years ago when I was young.

Working in the justice system gave me an interesting perspective. I got to know quite a few individuals who are in prison and truly belong in prison. They are really nice guys but I don't want any of them to live next door to me. Hell, I don't want any of them to live in the same state! But they did give me fodder for a suspense/mystery set in Oklahoma City. In Deadly Dreams the bad guy, Lucius McKenna was a lot of fun to write. He's a serial killer but of course, not just your run-of-the-mill serial killer. Lucius is gorgeous, and women go with him willingly so he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong.

My latest book, Closure is a serial killer mystery/suspense set in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque is a beautiful city and I love the way they've decorated the over passes. Even though I am not a fan of the desert, the area surrounding Albuquerque appealed to me as a writer. There's plenty of places to hide a body, or in this book, to display a body. And my killer is artistic in the way they kill and leave the corpses. This story came from a singular event that actually happened, and from that event came the first "murder" in the book. As I was writing the first murder, I thought, "Hey, what a way to get rid of an ex." So the murders I committed were done to my ex's (only in the book, they are all hail and hearty). And the reasons behind the murders are actual events. The best part about writing this one was that I used my husband, Nathan, as a model for the murders. I had to make sure each one could actually be done—accuracy is so important—and who better to "murder" than the man I love? And Nathan is a little warped, so he helped me with some of the details and nuances that make the story extremely creepy.

Inspiration is all around me on a daily basis. I find myself packing things away in my mind like I pack away my Christmas decorations. They might be in a closet but they are always there for me to use when the time is right. I guess that's why I enjoy writing so much. I can use anything I might see, or people I might meet, or places I might go as part of a story. I can twist and turn each fact to suit my needs and whether it comes out even remotely resembling the original isn't a concern. It's all about the story and whether or not it I like the way it turns out. After all, I am my toughest critic.

Closure by Rie McGaha (blurb)

High in the hills above Albuquerque, New Mexico Detective Zachariah Ellison arrives at the scene of a murder, and not just any murder, but one that definitely falls into the “gruesome” category even for a seasoned cop like Zach. When another body is found murdered in much the same fashion, Zach knows he’s got a serial killer on his hands, and to top it off he’s got an assistant district attorney hounding him about the case. As Zach tries to investigate the crimes while sidestepping nosey Amy Logan, a third body is found and Zach hasn’t a clue as to whom the perpetrator might be.

Amy Logan has worked hard to put herself through school and pay for law school on her own and now that she’s secured a position as assistant district attorney in Albuquerque, she’s determined to do everything she can to be the best prosecutor this office has ever seen. And as if luck was following her, she’s been assigned to the biggest homicide case the city has ever seen. The only problem she’s having is the homicide detective who’s leading the investigation—Zach Ellison.

EXCERPT FROM: CLOSURE Champagne Books

"Zach, the body just arrived down here. Thought you'd want to be here for the autopsy," Pete said when Zach answered.

"On my way." He put the phone on the base, and then picked it up again. If Amy wanted information on the case, he'd just give it to her. He dialed the number from the card she'd left him, waited for the automated service, then punched in the extension.

“Amy? Zach here. The body just came in to the morgue. I'm going down—want to join me?” He looked at the phone in his hand and grinned. Amy hadn't even bothered to hang up on her end before he'd heard the door of her office slam.

Taking the elevator down, he pushed open the double doors that led to the morgue, and entered the autopsy room where he put on a face shield and paper apron. Ron was standing by the table with Pete, already wearing the protective gear.

"What do we have here?" Zach asked, putting on latex gloves.

"Just about to start, but I have to tell you, Zach, I've never seen anything like this. Damn, this is morbid—even for me," Pete said, shaking his head.

Ron nodded. "I've been in homicide for ten years,

Zach. I can't believe this one."

"Yeah, let's get on with it," Zach said and took a breath. He hated autopsies as well, but they were a vital part of finding evidence, and at this point he needed all he could get.

The doors opened again as Amy walked in, still out of breath, and all three men looked up. Zach thought she must have run the entire three blocks from her office.

“This is Amy Logan, D.A.'s office,” Zach said and made introductions. “There's an apron and a face shield on the shelf,” he told her and pointed. “Put them on.”

She nodded and when she was wearing the protective gear, she made her way to Zach's side and stood staring wide-eyed at the body on the table.

Pete took photos of the body—the penis in its mouth,

a close-up of the face, and of particular areas like the leather band around the throat. He removed the penis from the mouth, and photographed the teeth. Moving over the body, he photographed the bruises and burn marks on the upper torso, and the ligature marks on the ankles and wrists. The body was on its side because of the baseball bat protruding from the rectum, and he photographed that as well.

"Okay. I'm going to pull this out first, so I can turn the body,” he said at length. “It's not going to be pretty."

Pete grasped the handle of the bat with one hand and placed a gloved hand on the corpse's hip and pulled. The bat didn't budge. He grasped the bat with both hands and twisted it to the right, then braced a hand against the hip again and pulled harder, but it still wouldn't budge.

He looked up at Zach. “Want to give me a hand here?”

Zach blew out a breath and walked around the table while pulling on a second pair of gloves. No, he thought, I definitely do not want to help on this one.

He held the body in place while Pete twisted the bat back and forth a few times and then pulled slowly. It made a loud sucking noise and when the bat finally came out, blood, water, feces, and pieces of intestines gushed out after it, splattering onto Pete and Zach both, and then splashed noisily onto the floor at their feet.

"All righty then," Pete commented, and held up the sawed off bat, looking at Zach, then showed it to Amy and Ron.

Amy made a sound that wasn't quite a scream as she turned and ran to the sink, and heaved her lunch into it.

Zach took a deep breath and shrugged as he looked at Ron and Pete. He went to Amy, pulled paper towels out of the container, wet them and handed them to her, and left the water running in the sink so she could clean herself up.

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Moonbeams (comments):

Hey, Rie!!!! I'm like you, I find inspiration everywhere. Sometimes it can be a few spoken words and it's like flicking a lightbulb on and my head starts spinning with plots and characters...yadda, yadda, yadda. I loved this line you said, "I find myself packing things away in my mind like I pack away my Christmas decorations." I ditto that sentiment wholeheartedly, but I mostly looove the eloquence in which you said it!

Congrats on the new release. I'd forgotten about Deadly Dreams. I must get that book! And I love that your husband helped you plot his own murder for the book. How cool is that! Made me chuckle and decide right then I like that man!

Hey, Gracen, thanks. Yeah, Nathan is pretty warped that way--I think that's our common ground! lol It just seems like it's more fun to write creepy than to write sexy, at least to me. Hmmm...maybe I really am twisted? The pub for Closure said she accepted the mss just to see how twisted I really am--little did she know I took it as a compliment!